14 May 2007

wicker (wo)man

I watched Wickerman, a remake of the 70’s cult film. It is the story of a policeman who receives a letter about the disappearance of a girl child. He travels to an island to investigate, encounters a strange cult and gets caught up in their bizarre rituals. Although I’m not a huge fan of Nicholas Cage, he does a good job in the lead role.

The new version follows the story of the older one with crucial differences. The head of the cult in the later version is a woman. With this small change the director is able to bring a new perspective into the film. Women run everything on the island, with men acting pretty much like cheap labour. At one point Nicholas Cage runs into a group of men and asks their help. They just shrug and turn away.

As the story progresses you really start wondering whether Cage is mad or something sinister is happening on the island. He is not able to understand why they are dismissive of him when the missing girl might be dead. The ending is a delight - you never expect something like that from Hollywood. Not silly Shyamalan stuff like The Village.